The Ottoman Empire and the World: A Social History of Major Ottoman Cities
Spring 2014
Mondays & Wednesdays 9:00-10:30am, BUCH D325
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Faculty Facilitator: Eagle Glassheim
-Email:
-Office: BUTO 1221
Student Coordinator: Jenna Dur
-Email:
-Phone: 604 999 5794 (Email is preferred)
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(Tentative) Syllabus
Course Description:
At its height, the Ottoman Empire was extremely vast and spread over Eastern Europe, Anatolia, the Middle East and Northern Africa. Throughout its almost 500 years of existence, the Empire had an immense influence on the areas it ruled and colonized. Although the Ottoman Empire was founded on principles of expansionism and conquest, unlike other European Empires it also tolerated religious difference. This course will examine the social differences and diversity in this far-reaching empire by exploring the urban histories of major cities within the Ottoman Empire throughout its long history. The course will be centered on social history, focusing on the lived experience of the people in a particular period. Topics will include religious practices and myth, popular imagination, palace life, entertainment, gender roles and more. As such, the course will utilize primary source material whenever possible including travel narratives. For example, Evliya Celebi traveled throughout the Empire in the seventeenth century and wrote fantastical narratives about the peoples and customs he encountered. A comparative historical approach will be used when relevant to examine the interactions between the great European Empires/powers and the Ottoman Empire.
The course does not presume any prior knowledge in Ottoman, Middle Eastern or European history although a background in history and historical thinking will be helpful.
Course Learning Objectives: By the end of this course, students will (hopefully):
-Understand the importance and complexity of the Ottoman Empire to both the Early Modern and Contemporary World
-Understand the utility of studying social history
-Be able to write a thought-provoking research paper which critically engages with scholarly and primary sources
-Be able to think more critically about history; how and why it is written, interpreted and understood
Topics of Interest:
-The relationship between the capital, Constantinople/Istanbul, and its peripheries in the Empire
- To what degree did cities in the Ottoman Empire have autonomy over administration and the regulation of daily life?
- How did legislation/policies in Istanbul affect the daily lives of people in other parts of the Empire?
-The relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the World (specifically the Ottoman Empire and Asia and Europe)
- How did the “Tanzimat” era and westernization processes affect people living in the Empire?
- How was the Ottoman Empire represented in Europe? And in European popular imagination?
Break down of marking:
-Participation in discussion 20%
-Student-led lecture 30%
- Includes a short, 2-4 page paperidentifying themes, focus and discussion promptsin lieu of the weekly reading response- 10%
-Weekly reading responses/discussion prompts10%
-Research paper (12-14 pages) 40%
Participation:
As this is a seminar, discussion is crucial, hence why it is such a large percentage of the final mark. In order to ensure fair marking, 10% of the mark will be determined based purely on attendance taken at the beginning of class. The remaining 10% will be peer graded at the end of the course. Everyone will provide a mark for each student in the class, the highest and lowest marks will be dropped and the rest averaged.
Student-Led Lecture:
The student-led lecture gives each student an opportunity to delve deeply into one week’s readings and think critically about the topic for that week. On Mondays (except during holiday weeks) students will introduce the city and relevant social issues to the class. Students will need to conduct additional research to supplement the readings in order to present an interesting and thought-provoking analysis of the city. They are also free to add or change weekly readings but must do so *at least* one week in advance of the student-led lecture and be sure additional readings are accessible to students. It is up to each student to choose which time period/topics to focus on. Discussion will continue on Wednesday and the student leaders will be expected to facilitate Wednesday’s discussion. Depending on class size, students will work independently or in groups of 2-3. Regardless, everyone is responsible for writing a short 2-4 page preparation paper. Student-led lectures and short papers will be peer graded.
Weekly Reading Responses/Discussion Prompts:
To help ensure that everyone is prepared for class, a reading response with a few discussion prompts or interesting thoughts (1 page or less) will be due each class. This is primarily just a reflection piece to encourage prior engagement with the readings and weekly materials. Everyone is responsible for turning one in at the beginning of every week except the first and last weeks for a total of 10.
Final Research Paper:
The main assignment will be a final research paper. 5% of the mark will be based on the student’s preparation and completion of a first draft for the peer-editing session. The finalresearch paper will receive two marks: one from the average of two peer markers and one from the faculty coordinator. Your final mark on this assignment will be an average of these two grades. As there is no final exam, peer edits/marks will be due early in the exam period.
Late Papers and Assignments: Late discussion papers will not be accepted without a super great excuse, as the whole point of these assignments are to prepare for the discussion.It’s also very important that research papers are handed in on time because there is a strict deadline for final marks set by UBC and peers also need ample time to grade them. Extensions will have to be requested far in advance (with a good excuse) and be cleared with the peer graders.
Plagiarism: Whether accidental or blatant, please don’t plagiarize! Stealing other people’s ideas is the worst. Research papers must use proper citations, which we will go over during the “Research Paper Writing Workshop,” later on in the term. Please also familiarize yourself with the UBC policies on cheating, plagiarism, etc, in the Calendar under “Academic regulations.”
READING LIST
Required Text:
-Robert Dankoff, An Ottoman Mentality, The World of Evliya Çelebi, Leiden and Boston: 2004.
- Available through UBC Bookstore (or on Amazon)
*Tentative* Course Schedule
-* available through UBC Library
-The remainder of the articles will be posted on the UBC blogs website
-All readings should be completed for Monday’s class
WEEK ONE: Introduction, finalization of syllabus and reading/assignment schedule
*No reading response*
Mon. 01/06: CLASS CANCELLED - Sorry
Wed. 01/08: Class logistics and a brief introduction to the Ottoman Empire
-Donald Quataert, “Preface”and “Why study Ottoman History?” in The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, pp. xi-12
- available as an ebook through UBC Library
-Feroz Ahmad, “The Ottomans: From Statehood to Empire, 1300-1789” and “From Reform to Revolution, 1789-1908” in Turkey – The Quest for Identity, pp. 1-21 and 25-49.
WEEK TWO: Crash course history of the Ottoman Empire
Mon.01/13: The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire: Reasons for growth and decline
-Discussion of Sultan Suleyman and Harem Sultan
-Screen selections from Turkish telenovela, “The Magnificent Century”
Wed. 01/15: Ottoman society and institutions
Readings:
-Gerber, Haim. “The Public Sphere and Civil Society in the Ottoman Empire.” in The Public Sphere in Muslim Societies by Shmuel N. Eisenstadt (New York: State University of New York Press, 2002): 65-82. *
-Quataert, “The Ottoman empire from its origins until 1683,”Ottoman Empire, pp. 13-36.
- available as an ebook through UBC Library
-Giancarlo Casale, “Ibrahim Pasha and the Age of Reconnaissance 1520-1536,” In The Ottoman Age of Exploration, 34-53.
WEEK THREE: Crash course history of the Ottoman Empire
Mon.: 01/20The Ottoman Empire and the World
Wed.: 01/22Introduction to social history of the Ottoman Empire
Readings
-“Introduction” in An Ottoman Mentality pp. 1-8
-“Afterword: Ottoman Understandings of the World in the Seventeenth Century” by Gottfried Hagen in An Ottoman Mentalitypp.215-256
-SuraiyaFaroquhi, “Introduction,” In The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It,pp. 2-26
- available as an ebook through UBC Library
WEEK FOUR: Istanbul/Constantinople as the Centre of the Empire
Mon.: 1/27: Student-led lecture
Wed.: 1/29: Discussion
-Selections from Istanbul section of: in An Ottoman Mentality, pp. 9-47
-Boyar Ebru, “Introduction,” In A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul.
WEEK FIVE: Athens
Mon.: 2/03: Student-led lecture
Wed.: 2/05: Discussion
-Selections from Athens section of:An Ottoman Mentality, pp. 278-293.
-MollyMckenzie, “The Coming of the Turks,” “A Portrait of a Turkish Town,” “Life Under the Turks,” and “Religion and Education,” InTurkish Athens: the Forgotten Centuries 1456-1832, pp. 1-15 & 26-51.
WEEK SIX: Damascus
Mon. 2/10 NO CLASS (Family Day)
Wed.: 2/12 Student-led lecture
Readings:
-Anameric, Hakan and FatihRukanci, “Libraries in the Middle East during the Ottoman Empire (1517-1918),” Libri (2009) 59: 145-154. *
-Reilly, J. A. (2012), “Ottoman Syria: Social History through an Urban Lens.” History Compass, 10: 70–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2011.00817.x *
-Selections from: Dana Sajdi, The Barber of Damascus: Nouveau Literacy in the Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Levant
- available as an ebook through UBC library
-Selections from the Damascus section of: An Ottoman Mentality, pp. 94-99.
Monday 2/17 & Wednesday 2/19
NO CLASS- Spring Break
WEEK SEVEN: Jerusalem
Mon. 2/24 student-led lecture
Wed. 2/26 discussion
Readings
-Peri, Oded. “Chapter Four: The Holy Sites as a Source of Income to the Ottoman State,” in Christianity under Islam in Jerusalem: The Question of the Holy Sites in Early Ottoman Times. (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2001), 160-201. *
-Yazbak, Mahmoud. “Muslim Orphans and the Shari’a in Ottoman Palestine according to Sijill Records.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (2001), 44.2: 123-140. *
-Selections from the Jerusalem section of:An Ottoman Mentality, pp. 315-338.
WEEK EIGHT: Cairo
Mon.: 3/03 Student led lecture
Wed.: 3/05 Discussion
Readings
-Faroqhi, Suraiya. “Chapter Four: Guildsmen of Istanbul and Cairo,” in Artisans of Empire: Crafts and Craftspeople under the Ottomans. (London: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 65-87. *
-Selections from the Cairo section of: An Ottoman Mentality, pp. 371-450.
WEEK NINE: Cyprus- clash between Empires
Mon.: 3/10 Student led lecture
Wed.: 3/12 Discussion
Readings
-Heacock, Roger, “The Framing of Empire: Cyprus and Cypriots through British Eyes, 1878-1960.” The Cyprus Review 23.2 (Fall 2011): 21-37. *
-Walsh, Michael J. K. “’The Vile Embroidery of Ruin’: Historic Famagusta between Ottoman and British Empires in Fin de Siecle Cyprus: 1878-1901” Journal of Intercultural Studies 31.3 (2010): 247-269. *
WEEK TEN: A look outside the Empire
Mon.: 3/17 Student led lecture
Wed.: 3/19 Discussion
Readings
-Selections from Vienna section of An Ottoman Mentality, pp. 219-249
-SuraiyaFaroqhi, “European Sources on Ottoman History: The Travellers,” In Approaching Ottoman History: An Introduction to the Sources, pp. 110-143.
-Plus one more article TBA (about the near invasion of Vienna written from a European perspective…)
WEEK ELEVEN: Return to Istanbul& the Decline of the Ottoman Empire
Mon.: 3/24 Student led lecture
Wed. 3/26 Discussion and short presentations of research paper topics
-Mikhail, Alan. “Chapter 6: The Heart’s Desire: Gender, Urban Space and the Ottoman Coffee House” in Ottoman Tulips, Ottoman Coffee: Leisure and Lifestyle in the Eighteenth Century,edited by Dana Sajdi (London: I. B. Tauris, 2007), 133-170.*
-Hanioğlu, A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire, Chapter 6, “From Revolution to Imperial Collapse: The Longest Decade of the Late Ottoman Empire,” pp. 150-202.
WEEK TWELVE: The Ottoman Legacy
*No reading response*
Mon.: 3/31Research paper workshop/peer editing session
-First draft of research paper DUE
Wed.: 4/02Guest lecturer (?) or Discussion
Readings
-Articles from: Imperial legacy: the Ottoman imprint on the Balkans and the Middle East
-Giancarlo Carsale, “The Death of Politics,” In The Ottoman Age of Exploration, pp. 180-203.
WEEK THIRTEEN: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire/Conclusion
*No reading response*
Mon.: 4/07Wrap up discussion of research papers topics
-Research Papers DUE
Peer-edit of 2 research papers due April 15th at 12 noon